Portsmouth court date pushed back yet again

PKF administrators see fourth court date set, to decide future of the club

PKF ADMINISTRATORS to Portsmouth FC have again announced that a court date to decide the future of the club has been pushed back.

The future of the club rests on its sale to the Pompey Supporters Trust (PST). A court date has been set to resolve a dispute on the valuation of the club's grounds which will determine whether or not PST will be able to buy Portsmouth FC out of administration.

Further reading

A court date which was set for 31 January has now been adjourned until 14 February.

Papers were filed in November with a court date originally set for 13 and 14 of December. However, the courts pushed that date back until 15 January. It was then postponed again until 31 January, with the date now standing as 14 February.

Portsmouth FC entered administration for the second time in two years on 17 February last year, with PKF partners Trevor Birch, Ian Gould and Bryan Jackson appointed.

At the time of the original filing, Birch said the hearing was "critical in deciding the future" of the club. If the court agrees with the valuation of PST, it can be sold as a going concern, which is now the only option outside of liquidation.

"This court case is the culmination of months of hard work behind the scenes in trying to resolve the complex issues which this administration has posed. We will continue to work closely with the PST to finalise our case," Birch said at the time.

Usually an administration is only for 12 months. However, the administrators have also announced that they have received court approval to extend that period a further six months to 17 August.

The Autumn Statement contained a surprise announcement that the "last 3 years" exemption for principal private residence relief will be reduced to 18 months for disposals on or after 6 April 2014. This article looks at how significant the change could be with a ‘back to basics' look at three situations which will be affected.